Every episode of The Crown season 4, ranked worst to best

Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher inject some tension into The Crown, making the fourth season the most dynamic yet. But which episodes are the best?

The Crown is a good show. It’s sumptuously made, expertly acted, carefully written, and just fun to watch. There’s something comforting about watching well-dressed people trade barbs in beautifully apportioned rooms in British accents. You don’t have to think about it much, you just enjoy it.

At the same time, The Crown could be a frustrating show, at least for me. It’s very concerned with the minutia of the lives of the British royal family. In many ways, they’re a lot like everyone else, in that they have problems with their family and their spouses and with what other people think of them. But sometimes the conflicts were so small — only appearing grand because of the opulence of the production itself — that I got bored or even angry. Marry who you want! It’s not like the royal family has any real power, anyway, yeesh.

So I have mixed feelings about the show. But I was excited for season 4 because I knew it was going to bring in two towering figures from relatively recent British history: Margaret Thatcher, played by X-Files veteran Gillian Anderson; and Princess Diana, played by Emma Corrin. Do they inject life into this aging drama? Let’s rank the new episodes and find out.

10. “Gold Stick”

The first episode of season 4 starts moving the gears of the plot, introducing both Margaret Thatcher and young Diana Spencer (who haunts the first scene like a spirit blowing winds of doom), but can’t manage a ton of momentum on its own.

The most interesting part of the episode is the IRA killing Mountbatten by planting a bomb on his boat, but it’s never brought up again, nor is the IRA, even though its actions are a fascinating part of British history. It leaves the scene feeling strangely weightless, despite the sequence itself reaching for Godfather-levels of power.

9. “The Hereditary Principle”

Helena Bonham Carter holds this one together with her superb performance as the aging Princess Margaret, increasingly at a loose end as to what to do with her life. It’s also a nicely contained episode with a set beginning, middle and end. The issue is that by this point, Margaret’s struggles just don’t punch like they used to, not when Princess Diana is going through similar things and threatening to actually do something about them. At the end of this episode, after discovering yet another horrible family secret, Margaret accepts it and moves on. It’s a sad habit by now.

8. “Favourites”

This slower episode is a nice little break from the show’s usual, more histrionic pace. Queen Elizabeth summons each of her children for a sit-down, and discovers they aren’t as settled or contented as she would like. Not much actually happens here, but it’s great to some insight into what the queen is like as a mother, since a lot of the time the show seems to forget she has any kids, unless they have their own storylines like Charles. Her role as the queen often requires her to be uncaring (or at least, that’s how she sees it), but at least she makes an effort in this episode.

7. “Avalanche”

Oh my god, the brutality of this one. This was the episode where Charles basically lost any and all audience sympathy. Sure, Diana’s Phantom of the Opera-inspired gift was hokey, but it was earnest, and it’s impossible not to hate him as he disavows it and his wife completely.

The episode doesn’t really have an ending — it’s very much Part 1 of a two-parter that ends with “War,” but what’s there is melodramatic gold.

6. “The Balmoral Test”

This episode has a good time contrasting Diana with Margaret Thatcher, throwing them into a social situation with the royal family and seeing if they sink or swim. Diana, of course, charms the pants off of everybody, while Thatcher looks more miserable than she’s ever been in her or anybody’s else’s life. The episode manages to make both experiences somehow relatable.

5. “Fairytale”

The bad thing about “Fairytale” is that not much happens in it. It’s pretty much just Diana, alone in Buckingham Palace, biding time as it slowly dawns on her that this marriage isn’t going to be what she thought it was.

But that can also be a strength. There’s a reason Princess Diana remains such a powerful historical figure to this day: she shook things up, and just watching Emma Corrin navigate the halls of Buckingham Palace (on roller skates at one point, completely out of her depth), you get a sense of impending doom, of the long-overdue reckoning she’s going to rain down upon this bunch of insufferable snobs.

4.  “War”

I didn’t much like the Thatcher stuff here. I thought the episode spent too much time watching her cry (in rooms, in cars, at home, at work) than looking at the politics of why she was being forced from her position, but the Diana-Charles stuff is quite good. Sure, her trip to New York may not be 100% historically accurate — little on the show is — but watching her charm those people, I think I got a good idea of why she was so beloved in her time.

And of course that infuriates Charles, who continues to be a raging ass-monkey of a man. Watching the queen yell at him was pretty satisfying, although she also dismisses Diana in a way that ticked me off. Being non-confrontational is the new confrontational.

The ending is strong, with an implication that Diana isn’t going to tow the family line and give things a well-deserved shake-up. It made me wanna watch season 5.

3. “48:1”

Although it’s featured several British Prime Ministers as prominent characters, I don’t think The Crown does political storylines particularly well. They’re often pretty shallow, and the show always has to drop it and get back to the family melodrama eventually.

And that’s fine — it probably reflects what royal life is like on the whole — but I do love a good political battle, so I was happy to see “48:1” explore one in more depth. I like the genteelness of the head-to-head between Queen Elizabeth and Margaret Thatcher, with a single word making all the difference in their fight over whether to support sanctions against South Africa.

I mean, really, of course I liked a political battle that came down to word choice — choosing words is all I do all day. This was relatable content.

And although the show mostly put on the kid gloves when it came to examining Thatcher’s record, this is the episode where it came closest to making a statement about her, highlighting how she was on the wrong side of history and why she may have wanted to not intervene in South Africa because of her family’s business interests there, even though millions were suffering under state-sanctioned segregation. The Crown, like the queen, must remain above the fray, but it almost got its hands dirty in “48:1,” and it was exciting.

2. “Terra Nullius”

This was the best of the Diana-Charles episodes. The royal couple travels to Australia on a grand tour intended to shore up public support for the monarchy. Their marriage is fraying, but for at least a little while, it seems like they might be able to muddle through. The centerpiece of the episode is a well-written back-and-forth where they’re more honest with each other than at any other point in the season. They have fun dancing at a ball, get intimate, and Charles even refuses a call from Camilla. Watching this, I really wanted them to make it.

But of course it all falls apart. The public heaps praise on Diana, who’s coming into her own as a beloved cultural icon, and Charles seethes with jealousy. Although the show occasionally tries to call out some of Diana’s behavior as partly responsible for why the marriage falls apart, Charles definitely comes out looking way worse.

But for one second, I wanted them to try and work it out, which is why this episode was strong. We had something to lose, and we lost it.

1. “Fagan”

I doubt this will be many people’s favorite episode, but I found it fascinating.

Talk about an instance where truth is stranger than fiction. I had never heard the story of Michael Fagan, an ordinary guy who snuck into Buckingham Palace not once but twice, and the second time broke into the queen’s own bedroom and got a private audience with her. His complaints about Margaret Thatcher dismantling the state and eradicating basic British values were a tad overwritten — somehow I doubt he was this eloquent in real life — but I’m a complete sucker for tales of strangers making a connection despite impossible odds, so I ate it up.

Seriously, I was tearing up watching the queen come to a weird sort of understanding with this man. “Fagan” may not be the most eventful episode of The Crown season 4, but it is my favorite.

The Crown is available to watch on Netflix in its entirety now!

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